Cullinan Associates Inc. Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Cullinan Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,281 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,312 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 7.5% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $114,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 37,123 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,453,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 34,977 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,906,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. LVZ Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.1% in the third quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 25,018 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,370,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Cooper Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 7.8% during the third quarter. Cooper Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $239.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.70.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple preparing to allow third‑party voice AI/chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) in CarPlay — a strategic shift that could boost in‑car services, user engagement and partnerships across the AI ecosystem. Apple plans to allow external voice-controlled AI chatbots in CarPlay
• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q1 results (higher‑than‑expected revenue and EPS, large iPhone sales) continue to support investor confidence and explain why AAPL is outperforming many Big Tech peers after the AI‑led sell‑off.
• Positive Sentiment: EU says Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act — avoids potential regulatory constraints and commercial disruption in Europe. Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under Digital Markets Act, says EU
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and bullish price targets remain — several firms have reiterated Outperform/Overweight calls and above‑consensus targets (median recent target ~$310), underpinning investor interest. Evercore ISI stays Outperform on Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Inclusion in new Big Tech ETF offerings and continued institutional buying signal durable demand from funds and passive vehicles. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data currently shows anomalies (reporting zeros/NaN) and offers no clear signal on bearish positioning — not market‑moving as reported.
• Neutral Sentiment: Global memory‑chip shortages raise questions about iPhone pricing vs. margin trade‑offs; could preserve margins (price increases) or dent volume if Apple raises prices — impact unclear near term. Pricier iPhones? Global memory chip crunch puts spotlight on Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Apple has scaled back its AI health‑coach initiative (project “Mulberry”), highlighting execution and monetization challenges for new paid services tied to health/wearables. That could temper parts‑of‑services growth expectations. Apple Scales Back AI Health Coach Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling is visible in regulatory filings; while routine at large cap firms, it can be interpreted negatively by some investors when concentrated.

Apple Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $278.12 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $268.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.